| Description | The Foundry Workshops were built in 3 phases as a part of Smith, Beacock and Tannet's Victoria Foundry between 1863 82. The structure is made up of cast iron, possibly steel frames infilled with bricks in the 1:5 English bond. On the latest range (1882) vertical timber cladding is placed on the outside walls, while a tall single storey has inserted flooring in parts with 3 by 9 bays. The whole is covered wiith a corrugated asbestos roof.
The main 3 gable front faces the northeast and is built with brick (1875 77) on the left of the elevation, and timber cladding (1882) on the right. The elevation follows 3:2:2 tall round headed windows, the left 3 in stretchers and the remaining with wooden frames. The lower part of each window has either been blocked or altered. The central bay contains inserted wide access doors.
The rear elevation (southwest facade fronting onto Marshall Street) includes a horizontal timber beam with joist holes incorporated into the 20th century brickwork.
The left hand return (southeast) is of 2 phases with left end of the early 1860s (4 upper levels windows remain visible), while the right contains 5 bays of the cast iron framed erecting shop of 1875 77, which originally extended further south. The left range has cylindrical columns with modern brick infill supporting a horizontal timber beam, above which is a wall of hand pressed brick (1:5 English bond) with square segmental headed windows in stretchers. A row of holes below the sill level suggest the line of a lean to roof. The framed wall to the right consists of cylindrical full height columns with cast in brackets at eaves level indicating the position of projecting horizontal beams from the demolished section. The brick infill is in a random bond, likely to date to 1882.
The right hand return (facing up Foundry Street) has a cast iron frame with box girder at lintel level for the wagon entrance and 2 square windows above.
The interior of the building was not examined in detail during the listing survey of 1996. However, 3 pitched roofs were identified and were characteristic of the 'nave and aisles' arrangement with open sided upper floors to the left and right. The roof trusses, meanwhile, appear to reflect the 3 phases of the building: the queen posts of the west end date to the 1860s, 5 thin section cast iron trusses on girders are likely to be from the period 1875 77, and finally, the timber A frames with iron ties and apex shoes located in the centre and north aisles are from 1882.
(Text edited from Listed Building Description) |